Public Policy

The federal government launched Making Home Affordable, a loan modification program, last year to help struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure. But as one Glenview woman is finding out, getting lenders to participate isn’t easy.

It’s an early February twilight in Rockridge, and commuters are making their way from the BART station to homes and shops along College Avenue. Mayoral candidate Jean Quan and a small group of canvassers are gathering around a silver Prius on Claremont Avenue.

On Tuesday, Oakland city council members unanimously voted for an ordinance to enhance the city’s existing gun control regulations.

Oakland residents filled the City Council chambers last night, pleading for a reprieve from an additional $15.3 million in city budget cuts to close the deficit for the 2009-10 fiscal year.

The agenda item that garnered the most attention and public comment was the board’s adoption of a resolution stating its support for the Day of Action that has been called for by the California Coordinating Committee.

Mayor Ron Dellums held a peace conference on Tuesday to discuss how faith-based communities can help prevent crime among youth and called for more collaboration among religious communities.

While corporations, lobbyists and special interest groups may have gloated over the Supreme Court’s ruling last month that decreed that the government has no power to ban corporate spending in political campaigns, if Californian voters pass Proposition 15 in the June 8th election, they may have another chance to set limits on corporate election spending.

With Oakland set to approve a major waterfront land-use plan, some industrial businesses fear residential development will push them out.